The liberal arts-vocational education controversy is examined in this article through a series of fictitious letters based on historical facts that present the thoughts of key educational personalities regarding the community college's role in providing vocational education and liberal arts education. Part I, which takes the form of a letter and information summary addressed to community college students, explains the differences between liberal arts/transfer degree programs and vocational/career programs. Part II offers an overview of the development of the community college curriculum and the numerous reform movements which affected it. The important contributions of the Yale Report of 1828, the Morrill Act of 1862, and post-Civil War expansion and reconstruction efforts are reviewed. Part III presents the fictitious letters, representing the views of Francis Wayland, President of Brown University; Henry P. Tappan, President of the University of Michigan; Henry David Thoreau; a Confederate Civil War Cadet; Ezra Cornell; Charles William Eliot; and James McCosh, President of Princeton University. (EJV)